Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

Lillian "Lill" Fickus

Lillian "Lill" Fickus was born in Arctic Village, Alaska and then moved to Fork Yukon when she was ten years old. Her father was from Old Crow and her mother from Arctic Village. She grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle where the family moved from camp to camp following the seasons. As a teenager, she went to school at Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka and since she wanted to be a nurse she worked at the hospital in Fort Yukon in the summer. In 1959, she married Bill Fickus. In 1963, they moved to Crevice Creek, about forty miles north of Bettles, where they lived year-round on a remote homestead hunting, gathering, and raising their own food. They also raised and educated their children there. Lill was a prolific and talented Alaska Native artist, beading beautiful articles of clothing and accessories. For more about Lill Fickus, see her obituary in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner newspaper.

Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi collaborated in interviewing Bill and Lill Fickus at their home on Crevice Creek, John Rivers, about 40 miles north of Bettles, Alaska on September 26, 1994. Dan was a research associate at the Oral History Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and conducted some of the interviews funded by the National Park Service in the Yukon-Charley Rivers Preserve areas. Steve was a subsistence specialist at Gates of the Arctic National Park. The interview with the Fickuses was funded by the National Park Service as part of a project documenting the lives of people living and working in or near Gates of the Arctic. Dan and Steve conducted the interview around the kitchen table with the Fickuses for several hours, ate dinner, spent the night, then resumed the interview after breakfast for a few more hours. The time of year had been selected as a time when there were few pressing chores, such as garden harvesting and hunting. In this first of five interviews, Bill and Lill talk about their backgrounds, meeting, marrying, and living at Crevice Creek year round. The interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66, 93-15-67.

This is a continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus' home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part two of the five part interview, they talk about their life at Crevice Creek. This is a continuation from tape number Oral History 93-15-63, and the interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-65, 93-15-66, 93-15-67.

This is a continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus' home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part three of the five part interview, they talk about raising their children at Crevice Creek, Bill's hunting stories, and their thoughts on the establishment of Gates of the Arctic National Park. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63 and 93-15-64, and the interview continues on tape numbers Oral History 93-15-66 and 93-15-67.

This is a continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus’ home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part four of the five part interview, they talk about guiding in, access to, and rescues in Gates of the Arctic National Park. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63, 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66, and the interview continues on tape number Oral History 93-15-67.

This is a continuation of an interview with Bill and Lill Fickus by Dan O'Neill and Steve Ulvi on September 26, 1994 in the Fickus’ home in Crevice Creek, Alaska. In this, part five of the five part interview, they talk about rescues, people they have met through the years of living at Crevice Creek, use of dogs, hunting, and raising their family at Crevice Creek. This is a continuation from tape numbers Oral History 93-15-63, 93-15-64, 93-15-65, 93-15-66.